On Second Look: Saw

On Second Look:

First Impression:
When I first watched Saw, I was drawn in by the mystery of it all and the slow reveal of it. I also relished the twisty ending. However, even on first viewing, I remember starting to lose interest at points due to the overly long flashbacks. I also remember finding Danny Glover and Cary Elwes performances as odd feeling, especially Danny Glover playing an obsessed cop.

Now:
The B-movish feel, even as compared to later sequels, is glaring. The chase sequence that includes dueling car interiors is just silly. The performace of one of the main characters (who was also the screenwriter) is noticibly weak. The meandering flashbacks still seem so and the twistiness is not quite as impressive as it was. Not that it affected my enjoyment of the film, but the bathroom where the central drama takes place is much smaller than I remembered. Still, on the whole, the film holds up.

One stark contrast to the later films is the lack of a focus on horror or gore. It is a thriller about the hunt of a serial killer told in parallel with the perilous state of his latest victims. There are a few scares and a little gore but not enough to hang its hat on, as it were.

All in all, it holds up a bit better than I expected dispite iffy acting and directing.

Grade: B

Looking back at the Saw Franchise

Having just seen Saw VI, it got me to thinking about the franchise as a whole in terms of the shifting nature of the films and their relative quality. In the next week or two, I'm going to watch the first five again and start a new segment called "On Second Look".